In former times, police officers typically handcuffed arrested persons with their hands in front of them, but since approximately the mid-1960s behind-the-back handcuffing has been the standard. The vast majority of police academies in the United States today also teach their recruits to apply handcuffs so that the palms of the suspect's hands face outward after the handcuffs are applied; the Jacksonville, Florida Police Department and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's office are notable exceptions, as they favor palms-together handcuffing. In addition, suspects are handcuffed with the keyholes facing up (away from the hands) to make it difficult to open them even with a key or improvised pick.

Code:NFT292